Listen to your Elders
by EaglesFeather17
Summary: One-shot: Based on Tumblr-post: Prussia meets an old lady while walking his brother's dogs in the park. The lady likes him instantly and invites him to a round of bingo with her friends in the local nursery home. Who would have ever thought that Prussia gets along well with old people?


_Tumblr-post: Prussia has found friends in the nursery home because he gets along well with old people. They play bingo together._

 **Listen to your Elders**

Is he happy?

Yes.

Why wouldn't he be?

When it came to his older brother, Germany had always been at a loss. Even as a child, the blond knew that his brother Gilbert was special compared to fellow nations. And not only because of his odd looks, like his white hair and his burgundy red eyes.

Ludwig absently pushed parts of the cut pancake around on his plate and sighed. Looking up, he saw his brother munching happily on his share of the sugary treat. The man's white hair mimicked his animated moves, but not the concentration he was directing towards his plate. The knife in his one hand, once a sleek polished sword, was now cutting sweets in half rather than enemies. The fork, once a pitchfork probably, was now resting in the other hand, while the person was stopping his goring to, for once, chew his meal. It looked so _wrong_.

Oh, how his brother had changed, more than in one way.

Ludwig had fully expected that his brother might be different after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, or after the dissolution of his country, but never to this extent. The older man was barely recognizable from his old days. He was thinner, more delicate, or, Germany internally slapped himself for having this thought in relation to his brother, _weak_. Ludwig had no idea what the time behind the Iron Curtain with Russia and the other Soviets had been like, but it couldn't have been a holiday. But how should he know, Gilbert never gave him satisfying answers when he asked. This aloofness concerned the younger German the most. How was he supposed to support or comfort Gilbert when he didn't even know what the problem was!

It always pained Ludwig to hear his brother's soft helpless cries from the basement when he had another fit of nightmares. Or when he walked in on his brother on accident to find him asleep on a mountain of some of his old uniforms with dried tears on his cheeks. But one of the worst habits the ex-nation seemed to have picked up was the increasing spacing out. These were moments when Ludwig wasn't certain if his brother was still alive or not. Gilbert's eyes were then focused on nothing and if it wasn't for the rise of his chest, even doctors would declare him for dead.

Germany was always worried about his brother's death. It could be today. Tomorrow. This uncertainty let the German's thoughts spiral deeper and deeper into anxiety. This was showing on his face, he noticed, because Gilbert tried to get his attention.

"Earth to West! You still there? I was talking about my awesome day and you didn't even listen to me." Gilbert pouted.

"I-I'm sorry, what were you talking about?", Germany asked and shook his head. He felt trapped.

Prussia regarded him suspiciously for a few seconds but repeated his sentence. "Well, I was walking the dogs and then I met this old lady and- "

Oh, no. It was starting again. It seemed that only a little information of his brother's everyday life already put Ludwig on a strained train of thought. It spiked his guilt. It was so wrong for Prussia, one of the most powerful nations Europe had ever seen, to do something as domestic as casually walking the dogs or buying groceries (but Ludwig was grateful for it anyway).

When Germans thought of Prussia, they would most likely say something about its virtues and admit they use them as role models in their everyday life. People are proud when they hear the word ' _Prussia_ '. But as time went by, not even scholar education in his country could prevent the old culture from fading. And Ludwig felt guilty to only be capable of offering his brother such a boring life with him.

What would happen when no one remembered Prussia? It had already started in other countries, Germany noticed. He had the habit to ask random people in other nations about his brother when he was there on a business trip, and to his horror, most people had never even heard of him! Also in Germany, the number of uninformed people was increasing.

But to Ludwig it seemed impossible to ever forget about his brother. He was the one to raise him, who took care of him, who influenced him, who taught him everything he knew, from how to handle state affairs in a diplomatic way, to how to clean your bayonet properly. Literally everything, so it was difficult to wipe out the old Prussian virtues from the German culture.

"-she told me that she liked my hair but also that I don't look that old at the same time. Oh, if she only knew how old I really am. Anyway, then we talked a bit and she offered me to play a round of bingo on Saturday with her and her friends in the nursery home. Of course, I said yes! So, I won't be here Saturday afternoon, just so you know-" Gilbert stopped his rambling when he noticed that his brother didn't even listen to him! Again! Just once something exciting had happened in his life, and then his brother just ignored him! How dare he?!

"Seriously?! You are constantly lecturing me about spacing out and you're doing it yourself!" Gilbert filled the distance between them by leaning over the kitchen table to give his larger brother a once-over with his eyes. "You're weird today. Is it the stress? You know I am always ready to help you out!''

Germany relaxed a bit. It is really embarrassing to be zoning out like this. It was probably just the stress in the EU that was pushing him to his limits. The crisis in Greece, unqualified presidents and so on…

"You play bingo?", Ludwig asked somewhat dumbfounded.

Gilbert smiled and eased back in his chair. "You listened to me, that's great! Yeah, I thought you knew! I mean we did spend a lot of time together." The ex-nation chuckled.

"How did the conversation with the lady start? And more importantly, why would she invite _you_ of all people to the nursery home?" Ludwig couldn't help but tease his brother a bit. Cracking jokes and lightheartedness made it easier to forget the concern and fears which were currently troubling his mind.

Prussia slung his arm around the back of the chair and used the other to give him enough push to rock his chair backwards and forwards. "Oh, well, no one can resist the awesome me! Especially my charisma and my good looks!", he bragged.

Germany almost snorted. "How are _you_ charismatic?" There was some truth to it though, but seldom in a friendly way.

"My own brother is mocking me! I raised you and this is what came out of it?", the red-eyed male asked with exaggerated deception. This bad acting made Ludwig think of the old days, when his brother would read him stories and give every character an individual voice. Ah, the good old times.

"Your brother is all grown up now, so he has more rights." Ludwig stood up and started collecting the dirty plates.

"And you have no idea how happy I am about it."

XOXOXOX

Today, was going to be an awesome day. At least that was what Gilbert thought when he opened his eyes in the morning. Saturday had come faster than he had anticipated, but whatever. The ex-nation threw the covers aside and jumped out of his bed. After softly greeting his small yellow canary, he put on his slippers and opened the door.

Still in pajamas he scrambled upstairs, almost falling on his face from excitement. In the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out some sorts of cheese and marmalade and put them on the wooden table in the living room. The same with two plates and cutlery.

His younger brother was still asleep, but Gilbert would let him be for some time still. It was Saturday and Ludwig should be allowed to at least start the weekend with a good portion of sleep. He really deserved it. He worked a lot and Gilbert knew how exhausting it was to work for the government.

After setting everything up, complete with a toaster, the white-haired man moved on to the next room which was directly connected with the garden. The brothers always let the door to the garden unlocked, but the ex-nation was more concerned for some gangster to break in than his brother. Ludwig trusted his pets a bit too much, for Prussia's taste. After slowly opening the door, Prussia was overthrown by three large dogs, who were barking happily and wiggling their tails.

"My, your happy greetings never get old!" Gil said, scratching the shepherd behind his ears, who, in return, licked his hand affectionately, while the other two crowed around his legs.

"Let's get you something to eat." Prussia let the way out of the room, the dogs happily following him.

After their bowls were filled with, what was probably the most expensive dog food one could buy (Ludwig insists on it, only the best for his babies), Prussia opened the windows to let a gust of fresh wind blow through the house. With a start, he noticed that the sun was just coming up, illuminating the sky with vibrant colors. Dawn was always one of the most beautiful things of nature. And internally, Gilbert was always relieved to witness another sunrise after the GDR had been abolished too. But now was not the time to worry about his life, he had to wake up his (not so) little brother.

Gilbert tip-toed to the bed on the upper floor, only to notice that his brother was snuggled up underneath the blue sheets. His bulk was quite visible, and his snoring was, in comparison to other times, quite soft. He looked so peaceful! Gilbert bit back a snort and advanced towards him. Standing at the side of the bed, the red-eyed male noticed the disheveled blond hair, which stuck out from under the blankets. The adoring sight threw him right back to the old times when his brother was cute and small and when his hair always looked messy like this. Times when the dammed hair-gel laid far in the future.

Ludwig moved a bit only to reveal his face to his brother, but still sleeping calmly. With a toothy grin, Gilbert poked the blond's cheek with a bony finger. What happened next, was something he couldn't have foreseen.

"AHHHH!"

The muscular man on the bed instinctively reached out and punched Gilbert right in the face. The pained cry from the older man finally ripped the younger out of his somnolence, who was now staring wide-eyed at his brother's crouched form on the floor, holding his nose in agony.

"What the fuck, West?!", Prussia gasped nasally. "What's wrong with you?!"

Ludwig, finally processing what happened kneeled next to his brother, resting the, ironically, culprit arm on his brother's back, comforting him.

Ludwig tried to apologize, this was really embarrassing. "I'm sorry…. It was an instinct…"

"Yeah, I noticed", the albino grumbled, "C'mon, I made breakfast…"

"You know, I really hope for you my nose is not broken! No one can punch the Awesome Prussia and get away with it unharmed!", the albino said, flopping down on his seat in the living room.

Ludwig, sighed, wrapping a cool pack in a towel. He was sorry for the punch, but it was also kind of funny… Not that he would ever show that. Now, that his brother healed radically slower than other nations, Germany had to be careful and Gilbert never made his job as voice of reason any easier with his absurd and sometimes downright dangerous ideas. Without a word, the younger German handed his brother the cold bundle who replaced his pale hand on his face with it.

"But since you are my little brother, I will let it pass as an incident." Gilbert added generously. "And don't think I didn't see that small smile when you were wrapping the thing up! It really was kind of funny, now in the aftermath."

The brothers finally started their breakfast and, as always, exchanged plans for the week-end and the following week.

"I am free for the week-end. We could do something together." Ludwig suggested, they hadn't spent quality time together since forever. He was so wrapped up in his work affairs and, well that was it. His superiors demanded so much from him. Or it was rather his own fault for having so much work, since he preferred doing things by himself and fulfilling them correctly. He just was a perfectionist.

"Oh, I don't have much time today. At least not this afternoon."

Germany couldn't help but ask, "Why?". Gilbert wasn't a country anymore shouldn't he have all the time in the world?

"I thought I told you that I met this old lady in the park and she invited me to play bingo with her and her friends. At four o'clock. About that, can you drive me?"

Ludwig remembered, "Ah yes. Sure, I can drive you. But it's also about time you get your own car."

"Really?", the albino asked astonished, "I don't have any money, West. And I remember having a Trabant, which you took from me."

"Of course, I would pay for it. And, well I didn't want you to remember your time as GDR so much, so I got rid of it and I forgot to replace it."

"YOU GOT RID OF IT?!", Gilbert shrieked, his toast falling out of his hand on the plate. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF OSTALGIA?! Sure, these times weren't exactly the best of my existence and Russia was and still is, by the way, a total nutjob, but it's still a part of my past! And I seriously can't imagine you having sold it, since it's worth a lot of money today."

Germany sighed deeply and rubbed his hands over his face. "My choice of words was bad, sorry. No, I did _not_ get rid of it. It's just not exactly right here."

The answer satisfied the white-haired man and he relaxed visibly. "Phew, that's good. Not that I need to see it right now, but knowing that I can take a look at it once in a while is good to know." He picked up his fallen toast and nibbled off the crust of the slice as if his outburst had never happened.

Living with his older brother sure was exciting, to say the least.

A few hours later, Gilbert ran through the house, screaming. "West, hurry up! Or we're going to be late!" The man threw on his brown wool cloak, he had fished out of his closet and waited by the front door of the house rocking on his heels.

"I'm coming, geez…" Finally, Ludwig came into sight, who stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his brother. " _What are you wearing_?"

Prussia turned on his spot to show off his chosen outfit, which consisted of an ironed buttoned-down shirt underneath a dark red and blue checked slip-on. His brown corduroy trousers were secured at his waist (why did he have need to pull the trousers so far up?) by a thick leathery belt and suspenders. But the worst thing by far, was the long cloak which looked like it had seen better centuries. With his white hair, thin stature and these clothes, which he _definitely_ took out of the cardboard box labeled "1800's", he really looked like an old man.

"Gilbert, _why?_ "

"I wanted to blend in! Now come on! I have to be there in half an hour!", the elder urged.

The black BMW came to a halt right in front of a white building which was framed by plants and colorful flowers. Birds were flying from tree to tree chattering and flapping with their wings.

"That's the address…" The ex-nation checked the number on the wrinkled note in his hands again.

Germany, still gripping the steering wheel, nodded. "When should I come and pick you up?"

"At seven. Right here."

"You have your mobile?"

Gilbert laughed and rummaged around in the huge pocket of his cloak and held his phone up evidently. "Here!"

Ludwig smiled, "Alright then, have fun!"

Gilbert opened the door and got off the car, waving goodbye.

The glassy double doors opened automatically when he entered. The interior was white with some dots of paint here and there. Some flowers too and some plats, like outside. The albino went to the young brown-haired receptionist and asked for directions.

The adolescent looked up from her papers and smiled at him. "Good afternoon. How can I help you?"

"I am looking for- Frau Seidel. She invited me to the bingo event today."

The woman nodded, "Follow me, I will get you to her."

She led Gilbert trough the corridors of the building to the recreation room, which was already packed with the inhabitants of the residence. The elders were seated in groups of five around each round table, all chattering excitedly amongst each other.

The receptionist showed Gilbert to a table with the lady he instantly recognized. Even though her back was turned, he could see that her gray hair was combed back like the day he met her, and she was also wearing the same blue jacket.

"Your guest is here, Frieda!", the brown-haired employee informed her excitedly. The old woman turned around and her expression lit up immensely.

"Herr Beilschmidt!", she said, her wrinkled face was split by a wide grin as she opened her arms in form of an embrace. Gilbert smiled too and stepped closer to take the lady's wrinkled hand in his. With joy, he noticed that there was still force with which she was gripping his hand. "Sit down, sit down! I kept the chair free just for you!" And so, he did.

"Frieda was really excited for your visit! She was talking about you constantly!", the woman from behind added. Gilbert laughed, normally he would feel smug about someone talking nicely about him, but this was an entirely different situation. Entirely different. "The bingo game is about to start, so I will get you your cards, alright?", the receptionist also addressed the other participants at the table. Not expecting an answer, she left.

Frieda had still not let go of Gilbert's left hand, which she was caressing absently, while she introduced him to the other elders.

"This is Baldo!", she motioned to the chubby man next her. He was wearing a striped shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, which framed his kindly glowing grey eyes. His fading hair revealed a small liver spot on his fore head.

The man in question chuckled deeply. "Frieda, how about we introduce ourselves? We haven't lost our memory yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Frieda blushed.

Baldo continued and spoke to Gilbert directly. "Well, I am Baldo…" The man offered his hand over the table, which Gilbert shook without hesitation. "I used to be a police officer, you know?"

"Complete with gun and cuffs? Did you track down some bad guys?", the albino was genuinely interested.

"Let's say, back in my old days no evil person stood a chance!" Gilbert laughed along with him.

The woman across from Gilbert was very shy. She was also very small and thin. With her gray cardigan and big glasses, she looked like a mouse.

"I-I am C-Carcelin…" Prussia was surprised she even offered her small hand to him. Like before, Gilbert leaned over the table and shook her trembling hand, but this time much slower and quieter.

"Hello, Carcelin." He greeted her with a considerate nod.

Last, but not least was the man seated on Gilberts right. He was of average height and weight. His face was lightly bearded and was bearing a big nose. He also smiled and introduced himself as Egmar, a former librarian.

Finally, it was Gilbert's turn to introduce himself. "Now, that I know your names, you have to call me Gilbert not Herr Beilschmidt. I guess Frieda forgot to mention my forename."

Next to him Frieda muttered "How could I forget that name?" quietly to herself.

"So, Gilbert, what is your advocation? You don't look as old as not to have a job.", Baldo asked.

Prussia coughed in his hand, his face heating up. "I used to work for the government, but I retired early because of a… medical condition…" It was the truth in a way.

The self-hating look on Baldo's face was unbearable to look at. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."

Prussia felt great sympathy for the man and tried to cheer him up. "Hey, it's alright. Living with my brother isn't so bad after all!"

"You have a brother?", Egmar asked interested "Tell us about him."

Gilbert chuckled. "His name is Ludwig and he's my little brother… Even though he is way more responsible than I could ever wish to be! He runs the household, his work, other nations-err …. And sometimes I ask myself, where has time gone, when he was a child? Now he is strong, intelligent and talented in everything he does. I really miss the time when he was not twice my size."

"Don't we all?" All four elders were now looking in no direction in particular with a nostalgic look. The quiet moment was interrupted by the young receptionist who came up to them in a hurry.

"It's about to start! Here you go!" She stacked a pile of game cards and colored pencils in the middle of the table and left as fast as she had come.

The people each took a card and a pencil. Gilbert decided to take the dark blue one, his lucky color. Preußischblau.

"So, is this any different from the normal terminology?"

Frieda smiled and shook her head. "Not really, but it is much shorter. You just mark the named number and that's it. When you have five numbers in a row you are the winner! As you can see, everyone only has one card. The nurses don't want to exhaust us. But it is really sad, because then the chance to win is much, much smaller. But it's about the game and the people you play with rather than the award." These were wise words from a wise old lady.

A few moments later, the first number was already being called out.

"56!"

YES! Gilbert circled the number in the first box excitedly.

"36!"

HECK YEAH!

"22!"

WHOOP!

"13!"

WHOOOOP!

"…25!"

Shit. Gilbert ran a sweaty hand through his messy hair. This game was exhilarating! He looked around the hall and saw that most elders were bearing a determined expression on their faces.

The next round was starting just as fast as the first one had.

"67!"

That was the second round for Gilbert.

The third one.

"88!"

Mhhh…

"77!"

What?

"….66!"

That was a very coincidental coincidence.

"69!"

Lost. Again.

The albino looked up again and regarded his play mates. Frieda and Baldo were silently talking to each other, while Egmar regarded a lady at another table… with interest…

"24!"

Prussia heard through the hall how Carcelin took one of her mouse-like breaths and saw how she drew a dented circle around the last number of her filled row. Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched.

Would she say it?

"…"

Gilbert was filled with excitement and screamed as loud as he did back when he had to inform his soldiers of something over the ear-smashing sounds of a battle field. In Prussian volume to be exact.

"BINGOOOO!"

The loud shout startled everyone in the room and most of all, Carcelin. And of course, every occupant was now staring at the white-haired man who had even jumped out of his seat. The male nurse from the front came to their table and, before he could grab Gilbert's ticket, the Prussian pointed at the shy lady, who visibly shrank back in her seat.

"Not me! Her!"

The male nurse smiled and congratulated Carcelin heartily (after making sure the strange man didn't state something wrong). As it turned out, Carcelin had won over 100 000 Euros, which she gladly, since she didn't really have a family anymore, decided to invest in the nursing home. She was a good soul who wanted everyone to be happy.

After the commotion had calmed down and darkness was falling outside, the five new found friends sat in the lounge in the library. The atmosphere was very calm, and the only sounds were the softly spoken words Gilbert and the other elders exchanged. It was (already) six o'clock, so most residents had to retire for the night, but the nice nurses let the friends hang out longer together.

"-and then I told her, if she ever came back to my house again, I would burn her shoe collection right in front of her eyes!", Egmar told the round.

"I didn't know you could be so…violent, Egmar." Carcelin chuckled softly and absently scooted closer to the man on the sofa.

"That was the first time I stood up to her like that. I learned that she only loved me for my money, which I fully inherited by the way! I doubt you can earn that much as a simple librarian…" After the chuckle ceased, a comfortable silence overtook the atmosphere.

"Gilbert?", Frieda asked uncertainly.

Prussia looked in der direction. "Yes?"

"W-why do I have this weird feeling when you are in my proximity?"

What was she talking about? Could it be that- no that was impossible. He was an ex-nation and even if he still was a true nation he could control when people should know about his _true identity_.

"Yes, I agree with Frieda… I had this weird feeling of recognition when I saw you, but I can't put my finger on it, I have never even seen you!", Baldo joined in. Even Egmar and Carcelin were regarding him with determined looks.

Why should he lie. Once upon a time most people knew who he really was, because when the soldiers knew their nation was fighting alongside them, they would give all they've got in battle.

Gilbert took a deep breath and admitted: "I am a country."

This was enough for them to take in at first, he decided. But instead of laughing like he just told a joke, they were deadly serious.

"And which country are you?"

"I am not a country anymore, per se, but I am an ex-nation. I am the nation of Prussia."

" _Preußen_?", Egmar repeated.

"Yeah…"

"Why isn't that wonderful?", Frieda asked with excitement in her voice. "Could it be that you are the legendary Prussian General Gilbert Beilschmidt my grandfather told me so much about?"

Gilbert chuckled, "Yes, I used to be a general. And I was the most awesome country the world has ever seen!"

"I believe that! Wait, wait, hold on, youngster, oh, wait- never mind that you must be a lot older than us- you mentioned you had a brother, is he a country too, or did you just invent him to make us think- "

"No, Frieda, I really do have a little brother! He is Germany… I raised him. And I also have that stuck-up cousin Austria with his Hungary-dude-girlfriend and then there is cousin Switzerland with his little sister Liechtenstein… But as you can see, it would take me quite some time to inform you about every relation I have with the other nations."

Carcelin leaned forward and asked with her soft voice: "Since you must have been alive for quite a long time now, what do you think of the world today? Do you like what you see?"

This was a hard question to answer…

"I like the advancing technology and the mostly peaceful world we are living in today, but globalization always comes at a cost and I am not sure if nature can keep up with it." Carcelin nodded and leaned back in her chair.

Baldo spoke up again: "I absolutely agree with you. But in comparison to other countries, ours is very careful at what concerns nature."

Gilbert playfully rolled his eyes at this statement: "Don't even get me started on Germany. To most people he comes across as the perfect human -or nation- being, but even he has his flaws, like we all do."

"Which are…?"

Prussia smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Private."

In the same moment, the doors opened and the same receptionist who had accompanied Gilbert was showing a taller, more muscular man around the building.

"Bruder?"

Ludwig crossed the distance between them and confronted his brother on the sofa. "It is already twenty minutes after our appointed time! I was worried about you-"

"So, _you_ are Ludwig the wonder child?", Frieda asked slyly.

Germany swallowed and bend down to hiss in Gilbert's ear: "What did you tell them?"

Smirking, Prussia stood up and looked into Ludwig's blue eyes. "Only the truth…" Happily, Gilbert grabbed his cloak and said farewell to the old people.

"Gilbert, in two weeks. The same time. Croquet match."

"You can bet on it!" he gave Frieda a thumbs-up and led his confused and to an extent irritated younger brother out of the door.

The senior citizens shook their heads in amusement.

"When I was young- "

"Egmar, stop it! It is bedtime now for all of you!" Sadly, the nurse in the doorway was still standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, her left foot tapping impatiently.

The elders groaned.

 **Author's Note:**

I just had to write a one-shot about this Tumblr post! The idea was too cute to ignore. XD I hope you enjoyed the story/plot whatever and will review it.

This was actually meant to be a two-shot, so you might notice a little gap between the first and the second part. I really enjoyed writing it because it was so different from what I usually read. Mother-hen!Germany and cute!Prussia are what's keeping me alive. And about the bingo game... well it is actually rather a background action since I wanted to focus on the characters' interactions, so I winged it a little bit.

Thank you for all the positive feedback for my story Shattered Dreams! It means a lot to me and encouraged me greatly.

I do not own Hetalia, or its characters. But I do own the OC German citizens whose debuts I celebrated in this story. Hopefully, they seem to be round characters in some way and do not ruin the fanfiction. Admittedly, I've grown kind of attached to them. LOL

English is NOT my native language.


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